GO AND TELL HOW MUCH THE LORD HAS DONE FOR YOU
Mark 5:1-20
Key Verse 5:19
“Jesus did not let him, but said, ‘Go home to your own people and tell them how much the Lord has done for you, and how he has had mercy on you.’”
One of the themes of Mark’s gospel is Jesus’ authority as the Son of God. Jesus taught the word of God as one who had authority, then the people were amazed. He drove out an impure spirit with a command, and again the people were amazed that even impure spirit obeyed him. Healing a paralized man by saying “Son, your sins are forgiven… Get up, take your mat and go home,” Jesus demonstrated his authority to forgive sins. In the passage from last week, Jesus commanded the wind and the waves, saying “Quite! Be Still!” and they obeyed him. His Authority is nothing less than the authority of the Creator God. Human authority is driven from position, role, or achievement. But Jesus’ authority comes from who he is; The Son of God.
In today’s passage, we see a most vivid display of Jesus’ authority over demons. Mark describes how the demons had distorted and devastated the image of God in him, but how Jesus restored him as a precious man of God with a mission. We need Jesus who has not only such authority over demons, but also has compassion for one lost. Through this passage, we learn about Jesus who used his authority and sacrificed himself to save one man.
First, demons destroyed one young man.
Look at verse1-2. “They went across the lake to the region of the Gerasenes. When Jesus got out of the boat, a man with an impure spirit came from the tombs to meet him.” After passing through the storm, Jesus and the disciples finally reached the other side of the sea of Galilee, the eastern shore, the region of the Gerasenes in an area known as the Decapolice. Decaplice means “Ten Cities” because there were essentially 10 cities in the region. After Alexander the Great conquered Palestine – back in the 330 BC – these ten cities were set up to spread Greek culture and influence throughout the region. Later, this region was occupied by the Romans and served as a key military stronghold. So, it was Gentile territory, inhabited by those regarded as unclean and ungodly pagans. Since they liked to eat pork, the pig business was thriving in that area.
Jesus and the disciples were mentally and physically exhaused. They likely hoped to get some rest and a hot meal. However, instead of rest, they were met with a shocking and unexpected welcom. Who welcomed them? Suddenly, a ghastly crazed man came rushing toward them like the incredible Hulk. The disciples were terrified and scrambled back into the boat. Who was this man? Mark tells that he was a man with an impure spirit. Then, in verses 3-5, he describes hhis current condition. He lived among the tomb; he did not wear clothes; he harmed himself; he could not control himself and often became violent. He had become a dangerous monster -an existentail threat. So, the people tried to restrain him, binding his hands and feet. But, he broke the chains, ran away and lived among the tombs. Night and day, he cried out, cutting himself with stones,
This is what this man had become – a raging man intent on harming others and even himself. It is a deeply tragicpicture. He was completely alone, surrounded by the dead, cut off from every living relationship he had ever had. He once had a family – parents, maybe brothers and sisners. He had friends, neighbors, a home, and a life. But all of that was gone now. How had he become like this—so broken and tormented? Obviously, this was not what he wanted for himself. This was certainly not what God wanted for him. Then what -or who- had driven him to such a condition? It was the impure spirits, called demons. They had tortured him unitl all he could do was cry out and harm himself. The goal of the demons is to debase, defile and destory a human being made in the image of God. They are so powerful and destructive.
Here is something importan to notice. He was not born this way. Something happened. Somewhere along the way, he made choices — choices to give into his sinful desires and temptations, to pursue his own independence above all else, and to open himself up, in the name of freedom, to pleasures of the world that slowly took hold of him. Romans 6:16 puts it plainly: “Don’t you know that when you offer yourselves to someone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one you obey — whether you are slaves to sin, which leads to death, or to obedience, which leads to righteousness?” When we repeatedly give ourselves over to our sinful desires such as pride, laziness, selfishness, rebellion, jealousy, hatred, greed and so on, — we are not becoming free. We are opening the door – little by little – to impure spirits to come – until eventually we can no longer control ourselves.
By the time we met this man, he was not in control of his own life at all. It was the demons running the show. He had many of them within him – a “legion”, as we will see. He could not stop crying out. He could not stop cutting himself. He could not stop Prongraphy. He could not stop drinking Alchole. He could not stop doing drugs. He could not stop being violent. He was unable to control his anger, lust, and hatred. This is what happens when a human is taken over and tormented by demons, the enemy of God.
In deeply unsettling ways, this man becomes a vivid picture of what is happening all around us today. When we hear about school shootings, drug addictions – especially in a place like Kensington in Philadelphia, widespread severe anxiety and depression among students, we are seeing the devastating reality of a broken world. Lives are shattered, families are torn apart, and fear spreads everywhere. The work of evil, impure spirit is not theory in the Bible; it is reality.
Though not to the same degree, we have all experienced being captured or controlled by impure spirits – whether it be one or two, or evn more, such as envy, anger, laziness, or depression. The man in this passage desperately wanted to escape his nightmare existence. But he could not free himself. The Social Services, Rehabs or Self-hlep efforts, and even the Justice system could not help him. Actually the society had given up on him, and casted him out among the tombs.
But here is the good news — and this is the whole point of this passage. Jesus had not given up on him. This man desperately needed a Savior. This is exactly why Jsus came to this gentile teritory. Jesus, the Son of God, came into this world to set us free from the bondage of sin and death(1Ti1:15), destroying the work of the devil (1John3:8)
Second, Jesus restores the man (6-20).
Look at verses 6-8. When this man saw Jesus from a distance, he ran and fell on his knees in front of him (6). He shouted at the top of his voice, “What do you want with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? In God’s name don’t torture me!” (7). It appears that the man was responding to Jesus, but in reality, the demons were speaking through him. They immediately recognized who Jesus was, the Son of the Most High God. His action was not true worship; it was an expression of terror, fearing that they would be destroyed by Jesus. So, they had no choice but to submit to the absolute authority and command of Jesus. Look at verse 8. Jesus already commended the devils. “Come out of this man, you impure spirit!” Townspeople had avoided him, judged him, and condemned him as crazy. They saw him as useless and worthless because of the power of evil at work within him. What about Jesus? Jesus saw this man, not as a crazy, but as a hopeless and powerless lost sheep who had been tormented again and again. He saw how deeply this man had suffered. He knew he was bound by demons and utterly hopeless. Then, out of his great mercy, Jesus intervened in his life. Mark 2:17 reads, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.” Thank God for Jesus, our merciful doctor. He came to heal our sin-sickness, and restores us as precious children of God.
Then, how did Jesus help him? Look at verse 9. “Then Jesus asked him, “What is your name?” “My name is Legion,” he replied, “for we are many.” A Legion was a Roman military unit of 6,000 soldiers. This tells us the scale of what was happening inside this man. It was not just one demon — it was Satan’s army of terror and death. But see what happened when Jesus showed up. These demons — this powerful, terrifying legion — immediately fell on their knees. They begged. Verse 10: “And he begged Jesus again and again not to send them out of the area.” Verse 12: “He begged Jesus, ‘Send us among the pigs; allow us to go into them.'”
This is so important. The demons that had terrorized an entire region, that no chain could hold, that no human being could subdue — they were on their knees begging Jesus for mercy. They had no power in the presence of the Son of the Most High God. The battle was already over before it began.
Then, why did Jesus ask this man his name? First of all, Jesus exposed the truth about his demon-possession. When Jesus said, “What is your name?” It was the word of God that compelled the demons to reveal themselves before the Son of God. Second of all, Jesus wanted to do more than just drive out demons. He wanted to restore this man’s true identity before God. It meant to restore his life’s purpose and mission. During years of rebellion under the influence of evil, this man had lost himself completely. His heart had been filled with many impure spirits. Without realzing it, his inner man and personality were distorted until he was no longer himself. This is the devastating consequence of sin – it causes us to lose our identity before God. This is what the enemy does. The demon does not just want to make you miserable — he wants to erase who you are. He wants you to forget that you are created in the image of God, with dignity and worth and purpose. Instead, He replaces your identity with something that serves his purposes such as a consumer, an addict, a number, a label, a diagnosis, a statistic. But, Jesus asked this demon-possessed man, “What is your name?” Jesus was reaching out to the man to find himself. He is Not Legion. Not the crazy man in the tombs; Not the outcast;Not the failure. But, he is a child of God – A person with worth, with a story, with a future.
Now let me ask you the same question. What is your name? I mean – who are you really? Not your major. Not your GPA. Not how many followers you have on Instagram. Not what your parents expect you to become, or what your friends think of you. Who are you, really? Many college students are searching desperately for their identity. Some try to find it in their achievements; others looke for it in relationships – social connections; still others try to ground it in their family backgrounds. However, None of these things can give you ture, lasting identity. Our true identity can only be found only in God, our Creator – through the relationship with Jesus Christ. Thank God that Jesus is reaching out to us, the same way Jesus reached out to this broken man in the tombs, asking, “What is your name?” When we disccover our true identity in God, we find meaning, purpose and direction for our lives. In 1 Peter 2:9, Peter helps us in this matter. “But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.” That is who you are. Chosen. Royal. Holy. God’s special possession. Not a number. Not a GPA. Not a label. Not a legion. But a child of God. When we just believe in Jesus, God gives us a clear identity as Children of God. As God’s children, we are loved; we are forgiven; we are given a holy mission as a royal priesthood. When this man was restored by Jesus, he was no longer Legion. He had a new name, a new identity, a new life.
When the demons begged Jesus to send them into a herd of pigs, Jesus gave them permission. Then, the herd – about tow thousand pigs – rushed down the steep bank into the lake and drowned. (11-13) As a result, the man was set free from the power of demons. He was sitting there, before Jesus, dressed and in his right mind (15a). Why did Jesus sacrifice a herd of two thousand pigs for this man? Honestly, every time I hesitate to give one dollar to a homeless person because I feel it’s a waste. Those 2000 pigs may have represented the livelihood of the entire town – perhaps worth hundreds of thousands of dollars. Still, Jesus valued this one man more than the herd of pigs. He did not hesitate nor calculate. He right away allowed the demons to go into the pigs. Jesus was willing to sacrifice everything for one dying soul because he loved him so dearly. To restore this one man, Jesus was willing to sacrifice even more. How do we know this? Because to restore this one man, Jesus gave and sacrificed his own life on the cross. That is how Jesus loved us. How much Jesus values us!
Then, how did the townspeople respond? They should have thanked God; they should have celebrated – rejoicing that the man has been restored – throwing a party with bacon, hams, pork chops, pork belly and ribs. But instead, they were afraid and pleaded with Jesus to leave their region. They were more troubled, sorry by the loss of the pigs. It seems like pragmatism or materialism is worse than demon possession. At least the demons acknowledged Jesus as the Son of the Most High God and obeyed him. But these people, who were possessed by materialism, rejected him and drove him away.
As Jesu was geting into the boat, the man who had been demon-possessed begged to go with him (18). He wanted to follow Jesus anywhere he went, and be with Jesus forever. He was ready to make a lifelong commitment to Jesus. What a wonderful change! Once he valued and pursued his sinful desires above all else. As a result he had been enslaved and tormented by evil spirits. Now, he was free; his heart was liberated. What did he choose to do with his newfound life? Amazingly he chose to follow Jesus. This was true freedom – not the freedom to do whatever we want, but the freedom to desire what is right and to follow the truth. Jesus had restored the image of God in him. His heart desires had been changed to seek the truth of God, Jesus.
Look at verse 19. “Jesus did not let him, but said, ‘Go home to your own people and tell them how much the Lord has done for you, and how he has had mercy on you.'” Though he wanted to follow Jesus, he had a different plan for him. Instead of allowing him to come along, Jesus appointed Him as a missionary to the Decapolice. This man simply obeyed Jesus. He went away and began to proclaim How much Jesus had done for him. And all the people were amazed. Agian What a wonderful change in Jesus. This is full restoration – not only being saved, but being given a mission as a man of God. Through this passage, we learn that Jesus not only saves us from our sins, but also gives us a mission (Ro 1:5). This mission gives our lives ture meaning and purpose.
We also have seen Jesus use his authority to destory the work of evil and to save one man by sacrificing his own life on the cross. Let us trust in Jesus who came to restore our identity as children of God. Let us go and tell How much Jesus has done for us.